ESCAPES, ALIENS, AND CASUALS. 



MANY plants not yet by any means naturalised in our 

 area have been introduced, and are still being- 

 introduced with g^arden plants, seed corn, and 

 carg^oes of ships. Seeds of the first, borne by wind or 

 birds, germinate in various places amongst the older wild 

 plants, and we desig^nate them "escapes." Others not long" 

 since come to our shores g"row in our corn fields or on their 

 borders ; whilst many more are found growing" on waste 

 g^rounds, especially near docks, where the sweeping^s of 

 the holds of vessels, dock sheds, and railway trucks are 

 "tipped." A perfect wilderness of exotics from many lands 

 occurs near the Hull Docks, and the observation of these 

 has been taken in hand with much assiduity by Messrs. 

 Waterfall and Samuel Mason and the author himself, whilst 

 their determination has been most kindly vmdertaken by 

 Mr. S. T. Dunn, B.A., F.L.S., of Kew. one of our best 

 authorities on plant "aliens." Besides exotics, there are 

 plants accepted as British by botanical authorities, but 

 not for the East Riding. The)' are usually plants of the 

 English type, and in the list we have appended no centre 

 from which they appear to have disseminated. On the other 

 hand, there are many, as the list will show, which have not 

 as yet been admitted into any edition of the London Cata- 

 logue. In former days our dock-side plants would be 

 designated as of the "Ballast heap" class, but as earthy 

 forms of ballast have been replaced by water, the term is 

 no longer applicable. 



